This was my first time in the 2nd part (middle) of San Bartolo (the rights just to the right of the largest jetty). Also my first time in San Bartolo at mid-rising tide. It was also my first time entering/exiting the water from a jetty/rocks. It went pretty well though and the rocks were fairly smooth (a few small snails and other things, but no urchins or sharp shells).

It took me a bit to get the hang of the area. There's a nice rip right alongside the jetty, so after a ride you can paddle over towards the jetty and it'll shoot you right back out to the lineup (awesome!). I wasn't going out too far as I was looking for some of the mid sized (5-7 footers) waves rather than the 6-8+ foot waves that were out there.

I had some problems catching the waves at first due to the fact that they back off a bit in a certain spot. Eventually I watched some of the locals and they were waiting for the wave to partially break and then they'd catch it in the partially breaking whitewater knowing that it would back off, reform and not close on them. I caught one this way pretty easilly (though it was a bit hard to see with all the splash and I was going towards the rocks). But after that I started to cramp up. I fought through the cramps for a while, but each time when I'd be able to catch a wave they'd come back, so I had to head in.

Paddling back to the shore w/o being able to catch waves is a bit of a pain. There are a lot of rocks, so going to the shore can be a bit hazardous. Also getting close to the jetty for your exit is a bit tough due to the rip. So you have to take a wide berth around the jetty and then angle towards it and catch it before the rip pulls you out. I managed OK, but w/ both legs cramped up to hell it was a lot of arm paddling.

ouch... if the waves were a little smaller than last week, they were more powerful, hollower and faster. The peak was moving a lot and there was some current. I was alone, gloups... But, after 30 mn of observation, I started to feel comfortable and I caught some good waves.

Went down to Playa Norte in San Bartolo this morning around 8am. The water looked great and the waves were solid mid-sized around 4-6 ft, with occasional sets up to around 8ft.

It was my first time surfing in San Bartolo so it took me a bit to find a good place to enter the water at low tide. Most of the beaches seem to have rocks lined up just off shore. The best bet looks like walking down the jetty and them jumping in, easier done with a shortboard than my longboard though. I finally entered at the very south end of the road near where a couple boats were setup.

The paddle out wasn't bad at all, but the rocks were just a few feet below me most of the time, and the tide was due to hit it's lowest at 11am. By the time I came back in, I was touching the rocks with my hands while paddling. Gladly the sets laid off for a few minutes and getting in at the same spot wasn't a problem.

I was looking for some decent beginner type waves, which I had seen the night before at high tide. But at low tide the waves were breaking pretty good and were a bit larger than I was ready for. It would have been a blast with my bodyboard. I saw some good easy breakers up closer to the shore, but with all the rocks there just lined up only a few feet under the water it wasn't possible to ride them. It looks like I'll have to come back at high tide to get what I'm looking for.

At one point we got a set of about Nine 6-8 foot waves in a row. I didn't end up on the rocks, but me and another guy got pretty close. I now see why others have recommended to wear booties here. There were urchins for sure, but the rocks themselves were fairly smooth and there aren't a ton of muscles (chorros).

The crowd in the morning on a weekday was pretty tame and comfortable. I think there were about 4-6 guys out at the southern wave and 2 more up north past a couple jettys.

Checked out the surf earlier in the day, but due to it being a Sunday, every decent spot was over crowded. Decided to wait until around 5pm when most of the Sunday crowd heads back to Lima. Was looking for somewhat of a beginners spot for practicing with my longboard. La Isla had too many waves running into each other, so you'd get 2-3 waves all packed together within 5 meters of each other (so much for 15 period).

The best looking spot I found at 3pm was the small south point break at Caballeros, but when I returned at 5pm it was flat. So I headed back to La Isla. The waves weren't too impressive (high tide) but we decided to head down and just hope that something started up. I'm not quite ready to get out in the central reef break with the larger swells, so I decided to try the point break along the north shore. I swam out a bit early because some lady wanted me to tell her kids to come in so they could leave.

Anyhow, I get out there and I guess the kids caught a wave in, because they were gone. I got lined up to catch some waves, but there weren't any ridable waves. While I wait, I constantly get pulled out with the current along the rocks. With the bodyboard and fins it wasn't much of a problem, just a little extra kicking. But with the longboard in the current, plus the tide starting to go out, it was an uphill battle. I tried to swim around the rip, but it not only pulled me out but also towards the rocks. Eventually I got out away from the rocks enough to get around them, but it took me over an hour of non-stop paddling to get back in to the shore.

Great arm work out I guess, but certainly not a real good spot for me yesterday. Finally when I got back to the shore and was totally worn out, the waves started to break... ugh! While paddling in there were no waves to ride back in and after I got in there are beautiful 5-8 foot waves.

End result is that I'm going to have to find somewhere else to practice the basics of my longboard. Playa Norte and La Isla aren't really working well (better for shortboards or bodyboards). I don't really want to go to the Costa Verde because of the pollution and all of the rock beaches. If anyone can recommend a good beginners break south of Lima that has a sandy beach, I'd love to hear it.

Whoooo... As the swell was big and the other beaches not surfable, I went to Le Gurp. The waves were multipeak and it was evident if the session will be good or not. I take my longest board as I didn't knwow the size (I was the first in the water).

Waves were difficult to take and I only caught 10. But 5 of them were bombs !! Big drop, big turn and a long hollow wall. I was 2 times at the end of the tube. I get also 3 falls-with-the-lip. And the lip was thick.

Tuff Lite Board ripped from my hands as I rolled through a wave on thepaddle out. Unpredictible heavy storm surf. Up I came with board snapped in half. Hapened near the sand bank at low tide. a long swim back in.

Thought this place would be nice with a WNW Swell, 9 ft at 13 seconds... boy, was I wrong.. not even worth it... there were a few people out, the waves were breaking all over the place with no consistency...

the waves were bouncing off the point... so I got out... and went south!

The best Oregon Surf I have ever been in... used Magic Seaweed and it predicted the best waves ever. Glad I made the drive out from Albany...

The rip at high tide was working and took me out to the break, which was about 200 yards to the south of the point... break clean and hard - lefts and rights. Over head to overhead 1/2.... excellent.. the seven rides were worth it!!

Took out the longboard for another session. Sprained my ankle a couple weeks ago and Doc said not to stand up surf until the 18th. So mostly just worked on paddling and such. Did catch one decent wave that was a good deal of white water, but managed to stand up on my own for the first time.

The point break wasn't doing much (small SW swell) and was crowded, so I paddling out a bit to the middle area of the reef break and tried to catch the edge of a few waves for practice. Wasn't crowded there at all, pretty nice area where you can find a 'safe zone' where it gets deep and the waves back off, before breaking again a bit futher in. There is a lot of current though, so just 'sitting' in one spot waiting for a good wav takes a bit of paddling, otherwise it will pull you into the main impact zone.

Looking forward to getting back out here as I gain experience since this wave is so consistant. For now it's nice when the swell is small and the other local areas are either crowded or unsurfable.

This was my best surf session yet this year. The waves were much larger than last week (6-9 foot swells, 13s period). Playa Norte was pretty sloppy so we went to La Isla which was great (low crowds on a Monday). Kon Tiki was huge (not quite ready for that yet) and La Isla's point break was consistent all afternoon. I thought that I saw Anali Gomez (young Peruvian surfer) but couldn't confirm it. Anyhow, I got in a solid 2 hours in the water (bodyboard) and caught a good 5+ waves. My bottom turn was a bit rusty so things started out a bit ugly. I was shooting out front and unable to really get in the tube, then I had to wipe it to avoid the rock wall. By the end of the day my bottom turn had progressed a bit but it still needs work. Best workout of the year yet.

It's my first surf session of 2008 ! after days of big tempests, big swells, I fisnished to believe the 2008 surf winter will be very bad. I didn't expected to surf this week end. But, when I wake up this mornig, the sky was clear with a strong offshore. After a call to the surf report, I decided to go straight to the north. After a first stop: the swell was to big and I decided to continue to le Gurp.

And I get some good waves! long powerful walls, long turns and I was alone in the water. A very good session.

Was pritty good, wind was light offshore with waves in the 3ft mark with the odd bigger one coming through. plenty people in the water but on the other hand the 4 peaks were all working and even the beach break had a wave.

Not as good as yesterday, but still fun. Started the day with four of us at sunrise and a couple of just overhead sets. Thaught it was going to be an epic day...a long 30 minute lull between sets brought another 10-15 people and only 3-5' faces for the rest of the day. The only thing that got bigger was the crowd! Everyone was pretty mellow and we all shared the good waves without any issues, and I even ran into an old friend that I havn't seen in a while. The day was not a bust, but it is not much to write about. My next session should be in Palau and hopfully much better than today! I guess I can't complane any swell worth riding is good swell, and good swell is a hell of a lot better than no swell. Aloha for now.

Took out the brand new Nick Thomson custom 10' 0" Biofoam Epoxy for it's inagural session. I could not have picked a better day or better friends to go with. I missed the first three sets due to learning the new board, but once I got the weight distribution down I was catching everything from knee high to just overhead. The run to the nose on the big ones was the easiest of any board I have ever ridden. The only thing that could have made the day better would have been avoiding the head on collision with my buddy Josh (no injeries and only a minor scratch on the new board). Next time I will go further left before I make the cut to the right and you saty to the right without cutting back to the left. Over all, even with the collisions and crowd, this was the best session that I have ever had at PoKia Bay!

Today I paddled out on my lunch break w/ my buddy Chris. When I first pulled into the parking lot of C Street I was bummed 'cause the reports were calling for waist to head high sets and all I saw was waist high.

For a few minutes I thought....."ah, sh** I'm not paddling out it doesn't look good at all", but I realized that surfing small waves is still more fun then going back to work.

As I was suiting up some shoulder high sets finally came in (it seemed a little bigger at the top of the point) and I thought......"o.k. now we're getting somewhere".

I grabbed some really fun sets as soon as I paddled into the line up, and for the next hour they kept coming in. I swear there was head high drop or two, but you had to be patient and sit in the right spot.

I watched my buddy Chris grab some nice little walls on his LB. It's always cool to HOOT your friends on as they go down the line.